Panama has no official float-plan system for recreational boats. Leave a written plan with a reliable person ashore and with your marina office: route, people aboard, return time, and the hour at which they call SENAN on 911. A zarpe or charter manifest records your departure, but nobody acts on it if you go missing.
Why you need your own float plan
In the US, a float plan is a voluntary note left with a friend. Panama is the same, with one difference that matters: some departures leave an official paper trail, but it is not a safety net.
- A zarpe from the AMP port captain records a passage between ports. See zarpes.
- Charter operators give SENAN a passenger manifest before departure. See manifests and records.
SENAN may ask to see your papers at sea (see boardings), but neither document starts a search when you are late. Only someone who expects you, and knows when to worry, will do that.
Who to leave it with
| Who | Why |
|---|---|
| One named person ashore | The one who calls SENAN. Give them the plan in writing and the overdue time. |
| Your marina office | Knows the boat, sees you leave and return, and can call you on VHF: Flamenco on 10, La Playita on 9 |
| Boats at your destination or the cruisers' net | Useful on longer cruising passages; a neighbour at Las Perlas or San Blas notices a no-show |
| A satellite tracker's contacts | Automatic positions where mobile coverage ends |
Choose someone who will actually be reachable at the overdue time, not someone asleep or on a flight. Make sure they have a copy on paper as well as on their phone. Do not file it with SENAN for a private day trip; there is no channel for that. Do keep SENAN's numbers on the plan: 911 by phone and VHF 16.
What to put in it
- The boat: name, registration, length, hull and canvas colour, engines, a photo.
- Identifiers: MMSI, call sign, EPIRB or PLB ID. See VHF, DSC and EPIRB.
- People aboard: names, a phone number for each, and any medical conditions the person ashore should know. Keep passport copies separately.
- Route: departure point, each stop, anchorages, and alternatives if the weather turns.
- Times: departure, expected return and the overdue time.
- Safety gear: life raft or dinghy, flares, radios, satellite device. See required safety equipment.
- Contacts: SENAN (911, VHF 16), the marina, the AMP's main line (+507 501-5000).
The Panama float plan template has every field ready to print.
Setting the overdue time around tides and squalls
Panama changes the arithmetic. On the Pacific side, a 4–6 m tide can leave you waiting hours outside a marina sill or a shallow ramp. Rainy-season squalls can hold you at Taboga until they pass. If the overdue time is too early, the alarm is false. If it is too late, you lose daylight for a search.
Check the ACP tide table for your return. Set the overdue time a couple of hours after your latest realistic arrival, including the tide window, and before dark where possible. Agree a check-in by phone or satellite message at each stop. Tell the person ashore what to do if you miss one, and what to do at the overdue time.
Longer trips: Las Perlas, San Blas, the Darién and Coiba
The further you go, the more the plan matters. Mobile coverage thins out in Las Perlas and largely disappears along the Darién coast, much of San Blas and around Coiba. For these trips:
- Carry a satellite messenger or phone, and agree a daily check-in time with your contact.
- List each night's anchorage and a fallback, so a search can start in the right place.
- Note the paperwork: the zarpe for San Blas, the MiAmbiente permit for Coiba, the ARAP licence if fishing. If something goes wrong, SENAN will ask.
- Say what "late" means for each leg. One missed check-in may just be a flat battery; two in a row should trigger a call.
For a delivery or an offshore passage, give the shore contact your planned route, and expected noon positions if you have them. See cruising the Pacific coast and cruising the Caribbean coast.
What your contact does if you are late
- Try your phone and satellite device, then call the marina to hail you on VHF.
- At the overdue time, call 911 and ask for SENAN. Read out the float plan: boat, people, route, last known position.
- Send the boat photo and the plan to whoever SENAN names.
- Stay by the phone, and tell SENAN at once if you turn up.
The full emergency picture is in who to call in an emergency. The US version of this guide is filing a float plan.
Your practical starting checklist
- Fill in the float plan template, with a boat photo.
- Give it to one named person ashore and a copy to the marina office.
- Check the tide table and set an overdue time you would really worry about.
- Agree check-in times by phone or satellite message.
- Tell your contact to call 911 and ask for SENAN at the overdue time.
- Close the plan as soon as you are back.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to file a float plan with SENAN?
No. Panama has no float-plan filing for private boats. Charter operators give SENAN a passenger manifest, and inter-port trips may need an AMP zarpe, but neither replaces a plan left with someone who will raise the alarm.
Who searches for an overdue boat in Panama?
SENAN runs maritime search and rescue. Your contact should call 911 and ask for SENAN, or a nearby boat can relay on VHF 16.
Is a satellite tracker enough on its own?
No. It shows where you are, but someone still has to notice that you have stopped or are late, and act. Pair it with a named contact and an overdue time.
Do I need a float plan for a short trip to Taboga?
Yes, a short one. It is 8 nm each way across the ship anchorages and a busy channel, and afternoon squalls are common in the rainy season. A text to someone ashore with your return time takes a minute.
Should my float plan be in Spanish?
Write it so your contact can read it, and add the Spanish keywords they may need on the phone: embarcación atrasada (overdue boat), última posición (last position), personas a bordo (people aboard). Add them to the bottom of the template.
The next question to answer
The enforcement collection. Read SENAN, the AMP and the rules.
Print it and fill it in. Read Float plan template (Panama contacts).
SENAN, SINAPROC, AMP and 911. Read Boating emergencies: who to call.
Same topic in Florida: coming from the US? Compare Preparing and Sharing a Float Plan.
Official resources
Use the relevant Panamanian authority for current requirements and fees. These resources are the next place to check; a practical recommendation is not an agency determination.
- ACP: tide tables (Amador, Diablo, Limón Bay) ↗
- ACP: OP Notice to Shipping N-11-2026 (VHF watch in Canal waters) ↗
- AMP: comunicado with main contact line +507 501-5000 (Jun 2025) ↗
- Wikipedia: Servicio Nacional Aeronaval, maritime search and rescue role (secondary) ↗